Apple's iPad fares better among potential buyers of tablet computers than do tablets based on versions of Google's Android operating system, according to a recent survey by tech research firm Forrester.

The Google Android stand at the recent Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

Price topped consumers' interests when asked which features were most important. Battery life came next, followed by operating system preference. The report points out that Samsung's Galaxy tablet was originally priced at $600 without a mobile contract; Motorola's Xoom goes for $800 untethered. Those compare with $499 for an iPad.

"This is about price, retail channel, and it's about brand marketing. Apple's competitors really have to step it up in those areas to contend," says Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps. Unless they do, "Android tablets are poised to fail," the report says. Forrester surveyed 4,784 people online in the U.S. for the report.

Motorola, Samsung and Google declined to comment.

Some consumers agree with Forrester's results. "Motorola's Xoom price is so crazy," says Brett Torrey Hanes, 40, of Santa Rosa, Calif. Rick Friesen, 55, from Billings, Mt., says he was really intrigued when he first saw the Motorola Xoom. "But then I saw the price." He says he'll likely go for the new iPad. "I've never been an Apple person, but the iPad 2 looks like a solid machine."

Retail presence also plays big with consumers. Top places for people to buy tablets was at electronics stores such as Best Buy and Apple. Low on the list was from wireless providers.

"If you go into a Verizon store, the Galaxy tablets are in the back of the store collecting dust," Rotman Epps says. "If you go into an Apple Store, the tablets are front and center, and it's an exciting environment."

"I don't even like going into Verizon's stores. That experience is getting antiquated," Hanes says.

Tablet makers will also have a tough sell differentiating brands at stores such as Best Buy, where devices sit on shelves with similar models, she says.

LMAO, what a crock, they are bitching about the Android prices when Ipads have been 500-900 for over a year, idiots

malloc

03-16-2011, 03:30 PM

This author, Scott Martin is out of his mind if he honestly believes that iPad's are going to drive Android tablets out of the market. Sure the iPad is cheaper than the Xoom, the Verizon Galaxy Tab, or the Edge, so Apple may win this round, but it's not going to win the war. I imagine it will keep a respectable portion of the market share, but it's not going to become the de-facto standard.

(BTW, When I was looking to upgrade my G1 to a G2 at T-Mobile, I could have sworn the Galaxy Tabs were in the $400 range).

The problem Apple faces in this market is the same problem it faced in the PC market, and is now facing in the cell phone market. If you want an iOS device, you are limited to hardware from Apple and just a few carriers. This is similar to the PC market, where if you want a Mac OS PC, you have to buy it on Apple hardware, not the cheaper, off-the-shelf commercial hardware that other OSes support. The same exact thing is going to happen in tablets. HTC, Samsung, Nokia and all the others are going to be able to put Android on any hardware components they can get, and that's going to get cheaper and cheaper, while the selection of devices and carriers available gets broader and broader. Meanwhile, Apple will still have only whatever iteration of iPad it has at the time. Should apple decide to license iOS to other hardware vendors it would be on much more competitive in this market.